Chapter 121: The Last Stand
"Do you really think you can get out of here alive?" Drakthor taunted, flexing his massive axe. His eyes gleamed with a sadistic hunger.
"Enough talk, let\'s end her quickly," Vargash added, his voice tinged with urgency. They couldn\'t afford to prolong this fight with the threat of the Sand Elves looming on the horizon.
"What\'s the rush? We could use this time to play with her before killing her," Morzog laughed, his spear twirling menacingly in his hands.
It was evident that the three generals were no longer concerned with Helliana or the Orcs. To them, victory was already assured. Now, they only needed to make it official with the heads of Warchief Kargoth and his loyal Generals in their hands
Helliana stood her ground, knives at the ready, as the three Hobgoblin Generals circled her. The battlefield around them was a maelstrom of chaos and blood, but in this moment, her world narrowed to these three Hobgoblin Generals.
Helliana tightened her grip on her knives, her mind racing. She was exhausted, her body bruised and bloodied from the no ending fight, but her spirit remained unbroken.
She had to get to her father, she had to save him!
Drakthor lunged first, his axe slicing through the air with terrifying speed. Helliana parried, her knives flashing as she deflected the blow, but the force of it sent her stumbling back.
Before she could recover, Vargash was upon her, his spells splashing in a deadly arc. Helliana barely managed to twist away, feeling the magic skim her armor.
Morzog seized the opening, his spear thrusting forward. Helliana avoided to the side, the spear missing her by inches. She countered with a flurry of knife strikes, her blades seeking the gaps in his armor.
Morzog growled in pain as one of her knives found flesh, but he quickly retaliated, a backhanded strike catching Helliana across the face and sending her sprawling.
Blood streamed from a cut on her cheek, but Helliana pushed herself up, her vision swimming. She couldn\'t afford to lose focus, not now.
She charged at Vargash, her knives a blur as she launched a furious assault. Vargash parried desperately, his confidence wavering as he struggled to keep up with her speed. He was a long range mage not a close combat fighter.
Drakthor and Morzog closed in, their attacks synchronized. Helliana was forced into a defensive position, her knives flashing as she blocked and parried, but the strain was taking its toll. Her movements grew sluggish, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The generals pressed their advantage, their strikes relentless.
A powerful blow from Drakthor\'s axe knocked one of her knives from her hand, leaving her with only a single blade to fend off three opponents. Desperation clawed at her, but she refused to give in. She spun and slashed, her remaining knife a silver streak in the dim light.
Vargash roared in frustration as Helliana\'s blade cut a deep gash across his arm. He retaliated with a swift spell to her midsection, sending her crashing to the ground. Pain exploded through her body, and she struggled to rise, her strength fading.
Drakthor and Morzog moved in for the kill, their weapons raised. Helliana\'s heart pounded in her chest as she braced for the end, but then a shadow loomed over her, and a familiar voice rang out.
"Helliana!" Warchief Kargoth bellowed, stepping between Helliana and the Hobgoblin generals. He was battered and bloodied, his body weakened by King Kraggul\'s earlier assault, but his eyes burned with fierce determination to protect his daughter at all cost.
"Father, no!" Helliana cried.
The three Hobgoblin Generals were equally surprised by his sudden appearance that they couldn\'t react for a moment.
Helliana reached out, her heart breaking, but Kargoth shook his head. His hand tightened around the spear and axe that pierced his stomach, preventing Drakthor and Morzog from escaping.
"This is my duty," he rasped, his voice steady despite the pain etched across his features. "You must escape and lead our people out of here. Hurry!" .net
"Thorgar!" Kargoth roared, and General Thorgar appeared, charging into the fray on his warhorse with what remained of their troops. He reached Helliana, pulling her onto the saddle behind him.
"Lady Helliana, we must leave!" Thorgar urged, his voice edged with desperation. He glanced briefly at the Warchief, a silent understanding passing between them.
Though it tore at his heart to see the Warchief in such a state, he knew they had no choice but to press on. For their clan! For their future! He couldn\'t let the Warchief\'s sacrifice be in vain even if he had to sacrifice his own life to save General Helliana!
Helliana didn\'t want to leave, but her body was battered and bruised, barely able to move. The pain from her injuries threatened to overwhelm her, yet she refused to abandon the fight.
Thorgar, sensing her struggle, swiftly hoisted her onto his warhorse. With a powerful kick, they surged forward, galloping away from the chaos. The rhythmic pounding of the horse\'s hooves echoed Helliana\'s own racing heartbeat as they sped through the battlefield, leaving the destruction behind.
"Retreat!" Thorgar commanded his troops.
"No . . . Father . . ." Helliana could only watch her father, his figure blurring and fading through the tears in her eyes.
She was so weak that she couldn\'t even find her voice.
"No . . ."
Warchief Kargoth threw her a proud smile. "You must survive and lead our people."
"No . . . father . . ."
"Like we\'ll let you get away!" General Morzog and Drakthor tried to stop Helliana, but they couldn\'t pull their blades free from Warchief Kargoth\'s grip.
"I will not let you harm my daughter! You will not go anywhere!" Kargoth\'s voice boomed.
"Shut up! We will kill you and then kill your precious daughter!" Drakthor snarled.
Warchief Kargoth laughed, even as blood poured from his mouth. "That\'s right. I\'m already a dead Orc, and I\'m taking you all with me to the grave!"
With a final, defiant roar, Kargoth tightened his grip on the weapons piercing him, his strength pinning the two generals in place. His eyes blazed, his sacrifice buying precious time for Helliana and the others to escape.
Warchief Kargoth, with blood streaming from his wounds and pain etched deeply into his features, knew his end was near. But he also knew he had one final act to perform, one last gift to give his daughter and his people.
Summoning every ounce of his remaining strength, he prepared to unleash his ultimate skill: [Cataclysmic Fury].
Helliana\'s tear-filled eyes widened in horror as she realized what her father intended to do.
"No, Father!" she screamed, her voice raw with desperation. But there was no stopping him now.
With a guttural roar that echoed across the battlefield, Kargoth\'s body began to glow with a fierce, otherworldly light. The ground beneath him trembled, and the air itself vibrated with raw power.
The Hobgoblin Generals — Drakthor, Morzog, and Vargash — and their troops felt a chill of dread as they realized what was happening. Drakthor and Morzog struggled desperately to free their weapons from Kargoth\'s iron grip, their faces contorted with fear and frustration.
Meanwhile, General Vargash unleashed a volley of spells, their dark energy crackling through the air as he tried to break Kargoth\'s hold on the others. But it was too late.
"I will not let you harm my daughter! You will not go anywhere! You\'re all coming with me to the afterlife!" Kargoth\'s voice boomed, filled with a commanding presence that silenced the battlefield.
"Shut up! We will kill you and every last one of you Orcs! There won\'t be anyone left including that daughter of yours!" Drakthor spat, but his words were laced with fear.
The glowing aura around Kargoth intensified, becoming a blinding radiance. He closed his eyes, drawing upon the deepest reserves of his power.
[Cataclysmic Fury] was a skill reserved for the most desperate of times, a devastating ability that channeled the very essence of his life force into a single, cataclysmic explosion.
The ground around Kargoth cracked and fissured, glowing lines of energy spreading out in a hundred-meter radius. The Hobgoblins within this circle of death felt an overwhelming sense of dread as they realized the Warchief\'s intentions. Fearful murmurs spread through their ranks, and everyone run away to escape.
Kargoth\'s eyes snapped open, now burning with an intense, almost feral light. He raised his hands to the sky, and the energy around him surged upwards, forming a towering pillar of incandescent power.
The very air seemed to ignite, and a deafening silence fell over the battlefield as everyone paused, captivated and horrified by the sight. With a final, earth-shattering roar, Kargoth brought his hands down, and the energy exploded outward in a tidal wave of destruction.
The ground heaved and split, sending shockwaves rippling through the battlefield. Flames erupted from the fissures, and the force of the explosion obliterated everything within its radius.
Hobgoblins were flung like ragdolls, their bodies consumed by the fiery inferno. The sheer force of the blast vaporized armor and weapons, leaving nothing but charred remnants in its wake.
The air was filled with the sound of shattering bones and agonized screams, quickly swallowed by the roaring inferno.